【台中】新社一日遊之採菇記 @ il Giardino Romantico

My friend and I had actually thought about going to Shinshou since before I left for the UK. But because time was limited then, the trip finally fell through. This time, we planned ahead of time. We were supposed to go on the Christmas weekend, but seeing that I had too much luck at the time, I had to go up north to Taipei to attend an awards ceremony, they kindly postponed our trip to the following weekend.

新社行，其實早就在我去英國之前就跟同學約定好要去。不過當時因為時間越來越緊迫，導致最後出國前還是沒去成。這次雖然也是規劃了一陣子才終於成行。原本是要在聖誕節那一個週末去的。不料天仙那一陣子因為好運太旺，要北上參加頒獎典禮。好在兩位好友好說話，將日期延到跨年後的那一周，讓我能夠順利跟到。

I didn't really know what to expect there. I've only heard of some Lavender garden in that area. But initially I was quite sceptical about spending one whole day here.

其實我也不知道新社有什麼好玩的。只知道之前有聽說過『薰衣草森林』。不過這個新社真的可以玩上一整天嘛？看下去不就知道了嗎？

Our first destination was this place, where we could pick mushrooms ourselves. I didn't realise the place was famous for their mushrooms till we got there. The driver of the shuttle bus recommended this place to us. For a veggie who is mad about mushrooms, this is basically like heaven to me.

首先我們來到這個可以自己下手採香菇的地方。這裡其實是新社旅遊接駁車的導遊介紹的。不過因為到了新社才知道可以採新鮮的香菇，對於像我這種對香菇完全無法抵抗的素食者來說，就像是可以吃到現宰的放山雞的你一樣興奮，只不過少了血腥味罷了～哈哈

(超模糊哈哈～不過有看到重點就好！！)

Once you walk into the mushroom picking area, you'll see endless 'fields' of mushrooms. You can pick out as many as you wish, but do be careful, as they charge by weight. It isn't difficult to pick mushrooms. Choose an isolated one to make it easier, then swing the stem from right, then to left, until it breaks loose.

走入採菇，可以看到一大片的香菇種植區。可以隨便你挑喔。不過可別採的樂過頭。因為這可是要秤重計算的。其實採菇的技巧一點也不難。只要選比較獨立的，然後左右扳，直到香菇梗自然脫落即可。

These are all different sorts of mushrooms.
這些是用來展示的菇類。

The kind of mushrooms available for tourists to pick. (chestnut mushrooms?)
這就是給遊客自由採取的新鮮香菇。

Another kind of mushroom. Got no idea what it's called in English.
這是靈芝菇。

After your 'harvest', come back to the front to enjoy different kinds of dishes made from fresh mushrooms.
採完之後可以再回到前面來品嘗新鮮的各式菇類料理。

These fresh mushrooms will soon be transformed into a delicacy.
這些可愛的香菇馬上就要變成可口的美食囉！

Deep fried mushrooms!
就是這個鹹酥菇。

This, however, was not the most delicious mushrooms we had that day. You must stay tuned to see where we had even tastier ones.

不過在這裡吃到的菇，其實還不是最好吃的。想知道，就繼續看下去。

We didn't pick out many mushrooms. But I can't remember who came up with the idea, that after our day trip, we could go to my place and I can cook my famous 'rice wine mushroom' for them. Because of this, I had to buy a large bag of king oyster mushrooms. As I had to find a way to finish the massive bag, I invented two other dishes...

我們採的香菇其實沒有很多。只是想說意思意思。不過不知道是誰出的餿主意，說出遊玩回到我家叫我煮傳說中的『燒酒菇』。但是爲了燒酒菇，我又買了一大包杏鮑菇。因此又延伸出另外兩道很驚人的素食料理啦！